I just received an alert from the campaign that a group of Oil distributors have appealed the ballot title assigned by the Attorney General’s office:

On the legal front, two oil industry trade groups requested changes to the ballot title that were rejected by the Attorney General. Subsequently, Brian Harris, on behalf of oil distributors, appealed the title to the Oregon Supreme Court on the last day appeals could be filed – March 14th. . This appears to be a delay tactic to keep us from collecting the valid signatures we need to submit to the Secretary of State by July 7th.

Here is the problem we now face: The Oregon Supreme Court is under no specific time line to address this oil industry appeal and we cannot move forward with collecting signatures until the Supreme Court acts. This delay can cripple our efforts to move forward with a clean energy agenda for the November 2006 ballot. We need at least 12 weeks to collect 75,000 plus valid signatures to be viable.

Last month I proposed sending a Portland Transport questionnaire to all the candidates for Governor (well, at least the 3 top contenders in each party plus Mr. Westlund). I’ve been thinking more about this and have added a few questions. How about some more?

Will the budget you submit to the legislature include funding for high-speed rail from the Willamette Valley to Vancouver, BC?

The Sellwood Bridge, with a soundness rating of 2 on a scale of 100, was conspicuously passed over in the OTIA process. Some have attributed this to pressure from the trucking lobby, which wanted a 4-lane bridge instead of the 2-lane span (with bicycle and pedestrian facilities) suggested by the last major study. Will you support state resources for the bridge, and will this support be conditioned on a particular configuration?

Do you support the Oregon Apollo Initiative (http://www.onwardoregon.org/site/pp.asp?c=ffIOIRMEG&b=1355271) to reduce Oregon’s dependence on imported energy sources?

Do you support reclaiming the east bank of the Willamette River in Portland by moving, burying or removing the I-5 freeway?